HOW HAS OCCUPY IMPACTED YOUR LIFE — FOR BETTER, WORSE, OR NOT AT ALL? "There's a good core group of friends that I still have that I met there that I wouldn't otherwise know. Definitely an intensive communications class you couldn't pay for anywhere else. Did wonders for my confidence — both mental and physical. Got to work on my rice and beans."

THEN (above) "I was just clearing up the food tent. We had to move that big tent. . . . Half the time when I was there, I was joking around, or yelling at cooks."

August 28, 2012

NOW "I'm in Brattle Square selling old jewelry and tchotchkes on the street. . . . I guess you could call me a scavenger salesman — a ramshackle engineer."

Activists rail at the T The latest theater in the war against MBTA fare hikes and service cuts opened with a bang this week, as activists stormed every corner of the subway map.

South By Southwest gets a dose of Occupation Even before Occupy protesters rallied on Sixth Street last Friday — bandanas wrapped around their grills, middle fingers raised — you could easily argue that social justice was the centerpiece of South by Southwest 2012.

Occupier fined for trespass In a stiff sentence for an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, a judge on March 23 slapped a $400 fine plus $90 in court costs on the first of the "Blaine House 9" to go on trial. Diane Messer, 59, of Liberty, had been convicted of criminal trespass by a Kennebec County Superior Court jury in Augusta.

Photos: Tea Party Rally and Counter-Protest at Boston Common As the Mass Tea Party Coalition rallied at Boston Common on Sunday, April 15th, a group of approximately 60 activists held a counter-protest. The counter-protest called attention to the Tea Party's anti-gay sentiments, specifically protesting the afternoon's appearances by Scott Lively and Brian Camenker. Rick Santorum was originally scheduled to speak, but did not. Three protesters were arrested.

Mainstream progressives get Occupied "We are the 99 percent!" reverberates in the basement of the Portland Public Library on a Saturday morning. Ninety radicals — well, maybe damn strong liberals — are plotting to take over the government — well, in any case, to harass the one percent.

GAY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM | February 26, 2013 Last week, with help from local LGBT activists the Welcoming Committee, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum bridged the gap between "historical landmark" and "sexy party."

LISTENING TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA | February 20, 2013 The Department of Public Health is moving forward with the development of Massachusetts's medical-marijuana regulations, despite efforts by state legislators to rewrite the law.

NOT-SO-SECRET GARDENS: DIY MMJ | February 05, 2013 Cannabis cultivation is an art as much as it is a craft — and urban living in our New England climate presents a gamut of indoor-gardening challenges for novices and pro growers alike.

HOME-GROWN CANNABIS CAREERS | January 24, 2013 The Cannabis Career Institute held its first-ever East Coast seminar in Boston on Saturday, offering local cannabusiness hopefuls a daylong crash course in Cali-style marijuana commerce.